Variety of “apps” available to help you track and manage expenses

You can track income expenses on applications that lead to better budgeting

If you’re one of the majority of Americans who don’t keep a household budget, new and simple-to-use applications—or “apps”—can help you track expenses and rein in spending if you find the outflow of cash is more than you’re taking in. And most of these tools are free, although you can purchase their developers’ premium offerings.

Today it seems there are apps for nearly everything. Just visit Google Play, Google’s official store and portal for apps, games and other content for your Android-powered devices, or the App Store if you’re an Apple user. There you can find apps for health and fitness, games, music, etc. These applications may be fun, educational and entertaining, but they’re not going to help keep spending in line so you can reach your financial goals.

Many of the spending apps connect to your bank and credit accounts, pulling and organizing transaction data. If you’re concerned about security or mostly use cash, consider an app that allows you to input information manually. Some apps are better for monitoring investments while others can help optimize credit card rewards.

Of course, the only way to determine which app is going to work best for you is to check them out. To help get you started, here are some of the most highly rated:

Spending Tracker helps you stick to a budget and therefore save money. You should start by choosing how you would like to track your spending. If you’re paid monthly, it would be wise to track it that way, although the app give you the option to set your preferred time period.

If you simply want to track whether your spending is outpacing your earnings no other set up is required. However, it’s easy to turn on the budget mode if you want to limit spending to, say, $500 a month.

Dollarbird isn’t an expense tracker. It’s a complete and flexible money handling tool that helps you put your dollars where they matter. It uses a calendar interface to help you:

find out what you spend your money on

make a plan and project how much money you’ll have in the future

get reminders for monthly bills

It has all the features you’ll need to discover your spending habits, adjust them according to your future plans and see how your balance evolves over time.

Goodbudget is a money manager and expense tracker that’s great for home budget planning. This personal finance manager is a virtual update on your grandma’s envelope system–a proactive budget planner that helps you stay on top of your bills and finances. The app is built for easy, real-time tracking and you can sync it across devices to keep other family members on the same page with household finances.

Other apps to research include Level Money, Mint, mvelopes, Wally and Wallet, among others. Of course, you’re not limited to single app. Use any number that suit your particular needs.